Advisor(s)
Susan Davies
Committee Member(s)
John Bolland
Brad Lian
Sylvie Mrug
Stuart Usdan
Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
2010
Abstract
According to the 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), 47% of the surveyed high school students reported ever having sexual intercourse, with 6% reporting having initiated their first sexual intercourse before the age of 13 (Eaton et al., 2006). Using the Mobile Youth Survey (1998-2008), the purpose of this study is four-fold: (a) to describe the MYS sample (1998-2008) in terms of its primary independent variable (the absence of a father figure) and its primary outcomes (sexual debut, sexual frequency, number of sex partners, condom use, pregnancy in the last year, and pregnancy intention); (b) to determine the impact of the absence of a father figure on the sexual behaviors of African-American adolescents living in poverty; (c) to determine if gender moderates the relationship between the absence of a father figure and sexual behavior/outcomes; and (d) to determine whether the impact of the absence of a father figure on African-American adolescent sexual behavior is mediated by familial context. The absence of a father figure was significantly associated with sexual recency and frequency, sexual debut, number of sexual partners, and condom use; and family rules, maternal warmth, and the ability to discuss sexual matters mediated some of the relationships between absence of a father figure and behaviors and outcomes. Understanding how family context affect the relationship between absence of a father figure and adolescents' sexual behaviors and outcomes is extremely important in creating interventions that are targeted to this population.
ProQuest Publication Number
ISBN
978-1-124-42781-2
Recommended Citation
Langley, Cheri Nicolette, "The Effects Of Paternal Absence On The Sexual Behaviors Of African-American Adolescents Living In Impoverished Neighborhoods" (2010). All ETDs from UAB. 2218.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/2218
Comments
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